I was seventeen years old in 1977. I was attending the Hyde School in Bath, Maine. I was involved with their performing arts program called America’s Spirit. That year we had been contracted by the US Government to travel from Maine to Atlanta, performing at Job Corps Centers along the way. We performed two shows in the Circle in the Square Theater off Broadway and traveled from city to city. I was having my classes in the back of a bus in between shows and performing every few nights.
The tour ended in Atlanta where we performed at the Martin Luther King Center in Atlanta, GA. The cast were teachers and students who were from all over the country and racially and financially diverse. I remember performing that day, how hot it was and knowing that Coretta Scott King had agreed to attend the performance. She met with us afterwards, telling us stories of Doctor King’s dreams, beliefs and hopes for mankind. We then were invited to visit a church that Doctor King had preached at and meet Reverand Ralph Abernathy.
For a moment in time, I was the best I would ever be and could ever be. I listened to and touched the people that made history and shaped the world for the better. At the end of the day the cast was asked to join hands on the alter, to form a circle and to sing the spiritual, We Shall Overcome.
To my friends, teachers, mentors and classmates. I remember the day we all met Coretta Scott King and Rev Ralph Abernathy. Moments like that defined my outlook on the world for a lifetime. I suppose that is why I think of all of you so much and so often. I always felt like I was on the outside, looking in. But I remember, clearly on that day, feeling a part of all of you and all of mankind in a way that I will never forget. I shall always cherish that moment and in that, all of you.
Bob Cristello
January 18. 2010
Martin Luther King Jr day
Remember the Dream of Doctor King (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968)
